This ambitious survey explores the response of the papacy to the challenges of the modern age. Running from the French Revolution to the fall of the Soviet Union, Frank Coppa examines the impact of major events like the Napoleonic conquests, Italian unification, two World Wars and the Cold War; he explores the attitudes of the papacy to such issues as liberalism, nationalism, fascism, communism and the modern, secular age; and he tackles, objectively contentious topics like the 'silence' of Pius XII. Engrossingly readable, the book offers a fresh perspective on international relations across two centuries, and on the political and ideological emergence of the modern world, as well as its specifically papal concerns.